Tuesday, December 3, 2013

WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE WORLD

The last few days have been so quiet! I don't mean, events' kind of quiet. Somehow, I always have some crazy stuff going on with me or around me. What I mean is, - not so many readers! Did you all get tired of my tumultuous life and personality? What is going on in the world that takes attention away from ME-E-E? Here I am, sounding like a cat! What is going on in the world?

Well, for one, the Chinese lunar rover is on the way to the moon.

When the news started with the words: "Pope Franscis might be sneaking out at night", well, you know, what I thought! But the good man has been going out in secret at night to give out money to the poor people of Rome, according to his friend and the Vatican alms-giver, archbishop Krajewski (apparently, it's a real position in that city-country). Here he is with the Holy Father.

Kim Jong Un', the North Korean dictator, reportedly, ousted his uncle, Jang Song-taek, for trying to re-group the old guard that were Kim Jong Un's father's cronies. Usually, the younger generation taking power in a country that had a totalitarian regime means the lessening of the tensions with the rest of the world and better life for the citizens of the country. Alas, it is not so in North Korea. Kim Jong Un's uncle was a master at building relationships with the West and new economic connections. His removal means nothing good for the long suffering people of that communist state.

According to the rankings for the program for International Student Assessment, American 15 year-olds ranked 15th in the world in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math, while countries of Finland and South Korea ranked near the top. Researchers say that Finnish schools are the utopia model of education. Unlike students of S. Korea, who are habitually under a lot of pressure to study hard and bring high results, the Finnish schools give less homework and the students perform unusually well with very little variation from one school to another, regardless of their socioeconomic status. Even the Finns can't quite believe that remarkable achievement. The only thing that they state as a reason is that, in the late 1960s they shut down all their teachers' training colleges and reopened them in the top 8 most elite universities in the country as a part of a broader reform of higher education.

Reports of rapes, killings and other horrors are growing in the Central African Republic. Rights groups accuse security forces and militia gangs of torturing civilians while world leaders warn that the nation is on the verge of genocide.

Is that enough? This news gives me a case of indigestion and heart burn. Also - a heartache. Let's all pray and work to create a safer, more prosperous for all Earth's citizens world!